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Former Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal departed for China today to participate in the 'World Civilization Dialogue' organized in Beijing at the invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC). 

Before attending the main programme in Beijing, Khanal is scheduled to visit Henan Province for three days, said his personal secretary Krishna Bhattarai. 

Former Prime Minister Khanal, also a respected leader of CPN (Unified Socialist), will observe the modern agricultural research centres, 'digital' technology companies, new energy technology factories, and model projects for rural revitalization there.

According to aide Bhattarai, he will address a special interaction organized by the CPC Henan Provincial Committee as the chief speaker. 

After concluding the event in Henan, Leader Khanal will arrive in Beijing, the capital of China, on July 9. 

In Beijing, he will address two important sessions on July 10. 

He will speak as the chief speaker at the third part of the full session of the 'Ministerial World Civilizational Dialogue,' on 'Joint Promotion of Shared Values of Humanity.' 

On the same day, he will also deliver remarks as the chief speaker at the inauguration ceremony of the sixth sub-forum titled 'Exchanges between Civilizations, Mutual Learning, and Intellectual Dialogue.'

During his stay in Beijing, Leader Khanal is scheduled to have courtesy meetings with prominent leaders, including Liu Jianchao, head of the Foreign Affairs Department of the CPC, and also meet with former Prime Ministers, ministers, experts, and representatives from various countries attending the conference. 

Leader Khanal is scheduled to return home on July 11 after completing a five-day visit.

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Prasad Pandey on Monday left for France to attend the 47th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee. 

Minister Pandey will present a proposal to include Tilaurakot, the historical place of Kapilvastu, in the list of World Heritage Sites in the session scheduled in Paris, according to the Tourism Ministry. 

Secretary of the Tourism Ministry, Hari Prasad Mainali, and other high-ranking officials bade farewell to Minister Pandey at Tribhuvan International Airport. The visit would be a milestone to give international recognition to Tilaurakot. 

The World Heritage Committee has 21-member countries including India, Qatar, Japan and Korea, among others from Asia.

A majority vote is required to approve any new inscription.

President Donald Trump on Sunday called Elon Musk's plans to form a new political party "ridiculous," launching new barbs at the tech billionaire and saying the Musk ally he once named to lead NASA would have presented a conflict of interest given Musk's business interests in space, Reuters reported.

A day after Musk escalated his feud with Trump and announced the formation of a new U.S. political party, the Republican president was asked about it before boarding Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey, as he returned to Washington upon visiting his nearby golf club.

"I think it's ridiculous to start a third party. We have a tremendous success with the Republican Party. The Democrats have lost their way, but it's always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion," Trump told reporters.

"It really seems to have been developed for two parties. Third parties have never worked, so he can have fun with it, but I think it's ridiculous."

President Donald Trump said the U.S. will impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of the BRICS group of developing nations, whose leaders kicked off a summit in Brazil on Sunday, Reuters reported.

With forums such as the G7 and G20 groups of major economies hamstrung by divisions and the disruptive"America First" approach of the U.S. president, BRICS is presenting itself as a haven for multilateral diplomacy amid violent conflicts and trade wars.

In opening remarks to the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva drew a parallel with the Cold War's Non-Aligned Movement, a group of developing nations that resisted joining either side of a polarized global order.

"BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement," Lula told leaders. "With multilateralism under attack, our autonomy is in check once again."

In a joint statement released on Sunday afternoon, the group warned the rise in tariffs threatened global trade, continuing its veiled criticism of Trump's tariffpolicies, according to Reuters.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to address the Parliament at 1 pm on Monday.  

An agenda was set for the Prime Minister to address the House meeting after his return from the official visit to Spain where he had attended the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development of the United Nations. 

CPN-UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula informed that the agenda was set for Prime Minister Oli to inform the House about the developments that occurred during his recently-completed visit to Spain. 

Prime Minister Oli returned home on July 4 after wrapping up his international visit. 

There has been a parliamentary practice for the Prime Minister to inform the House before and after the foreign visits. 

Islamic extremists killed nine people and injured four in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria, authorities said Sunday, Associated Press reported.

The attack was carried out by Boko Haram militants on the Malam Fatori community, Babagana Zulum, the state governor, said. He did not say when the attack happened.

The community, very close to the border of Chad, is about 270 kilometers (167 miles) from Maiduguri, Borno’s capital city.

The governor, represented by Sugun Mai Mele, the commissioner for local governments, visited the community and warned residents against collaborating with Boko Haram militants, according to Associated Press.

“Anyone found collaborating with the insurgents to bring harm or attack to the people of Malam Fatori will be cursed,” he said, adding that there are measures being put in place to fortify the town against future attacks.

The Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) is organizing a high-level seminar titled “Terrorism in South Asia: Challenges to Regional Peace and Security”. This timely and important discussion will bring together policymakers, security experts, diplomats, scholars, and journalists to deliberate on the evolving threat of terrorism in the region and its implications for regional peace, cooperation, and security.

The seminar will feature keynote addresses and panel discussions focusing on terrorism as a transnational threat, state-sponsored terrorism, regional security architecture, and Nepal’s strategic role in counter-terrorism cooperation. 

Russia and Ukraine struck each other with hundreds of drones on Sunday, throwing Russian air travel in disarray, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced deals with Western partners that would allow Kyiv to scale up drone production, Associated Press reported.

Photos circulating on social media showed crowds huddling at Russian airports including key international hubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled due to Ukrainian drone strikes on Saturday and overnight, according to Russia’s Transport Ministry.

The flight disruptions hit Moscow’s Sheremetyevo and St. Petersburg’s main Pulkovo airports. Other airports in western and central Russia also faced disruptions.

Russian air defenses shot down 120 Ukrainian drones during the nighttime attacks, and 39 more before 2 p.m. Moscow time (1100 GMT) on Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. It did not clarify how many had hit targets, or how many had been launched in total, according to Associated Press.